After completing the military training course, Son Heung-min, who led South Korea to gold in the 2018 Asian Games, still has to undertake 544 hours of community service over the next 34 months.

Son Heung-min picked up an award as the top performer among 157 trainees. (Source: Facebook/South Korea Marine Corps)

Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min completed a three-week basic military training course in South Korea on Friday and picked up an award as the top performer among 157 trainees, Yonhap reported on Friday.

All able-bodied South Korean men must serve around two years in the military but athletes who win gold at the Asian Games or a medal of any colour at the Olympics receive exemptions.

After completing the training course, Son, who led his country to gold in the 2018 Asian Games, still has to undertake 544 hours of community service over the next 34 months.

“He received the ‘Pilsung’ prize which is one of five types of awards for best performers,” Yonhap quoted a Marine Corps officer at the unit on the southern island of Jeju as saying.